Telling It Like It Is

Antibiotics most assuredly contribute to improvements in how food is made safe for human consumption. Without effective antibiotics, all manner of bacteria could grow on food. If these bacteria were ingested by humans, health issues could arise. In particular, the very young would suffer immensely from untold scores of ailments. The immune system of a young child might never be strong enough to fight off effects of bacteria and fungi.

But Alexei Beltyukov pointed out that according to this recent article, antibiotics could possible cause major problems for young persons. Specifically, certain drugs might lead to food allergies. Worst of all, the foods in question are fruits and vegetables.

Parents automatically assume the allergies are the result of the food itself. As previously mentioned, it is not so much the fruits and vegetables that are the source of the trouble as much as the antibiotics. Kids end up having troubling allergic reaction to these antibiotics meaning they cannot safely eat common store-bought food. Is there a solution to this situation? The only thing a parent can do is buy fresh fruit and veggies from organic sellers who do not stock food that is exposed to antibiotic drugs.

Many parents notice when their kids are what I like to call “brain tired.” There comes a time when the brain could use a boost of energy. This is not actually correct medical terminology, but everyone seems to know what it means. The brain is not physically tired, but since it is dealing with the head, who better to explain it than a doctor that specializes in brain health; the renown Daniel Amen, MD, who some of you may remember I profiled earlier in February.

Daniel Amen is a brain expert, clinical neuroscientist, and psychiatrist. He has written several books including, Making a Good Brain Great., Preventing Alzheimer’s, Healing Anxiety and Depression, and Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.

Daniel Amen and collaborators Pastor Rick Warren and Dr. Mark Hyman, formulated the “Daniel Plan” to promote healthier choices in what we eat, while using biblical strategies to help. The foundation for this plan comes from the Bible’s Old Testament referring to the Israelite Daniel requesting to eat healthier food while training under the captivity of King Nebuchadnezzar. The plan includes these five good- mood foods that could do wonders for an over stressed brain:

Sugar Free Dark Chocolate:

Supports a positive mood, the ability to focus, and a healthy cardiovascular system.

Dark leafy vegetables:

Full of magnesium that encourages mind and body relaxation and better sleep.
Has a chemical that may prevent disease.

Lean Proteins including skinless chicken, turkey, fish and beans:

Provides building blocks for brain health.
Produces dopamine which gives the brain the feeling of pleasure, and helps increase focus and motivation.

Walnuts:

Great source for omega-3 fatty acids necessary to support healthy brain cell membranes, a positive mood, and a healthy memory.
Cashews are also good for memory.

Saffron:

Ancient cultures believe it aids in digestion and is a mood-boosting aphrodisiac.
May also support healthy levels of serotonin that will bring out feelings of happiness.

“At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food,” (Daniel 1:15-16).

“The Daniel Plan” is what Daniel Amen and his co-creators call “The Essentials:” Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus and Friends. These essentials are the keys needed to achieve success for a healthier life, and to cure a case of the tired brains.

Bruce Levenson gave the seed money to create a graduate school for philanthropy and nonprofit leadership at the University of Maryland. In giving back to the school, Levenson is offering a way for students to move into the 21st Century by giving back.

This story was first reported by PR Newsire, and it is a new take on what kids need to learn when they are going to business school. These students need to learn with the seed money that he has provided that they need to be giving back as they are managing a business.

Some students who go to the school are going to learn how to run nonprofits, but there are many others who are going to learn how to give back tot he community when they are raking in profits from their own business. There are several business models out there for this, and the gift from the Levensons puts the University of Maryland on the cutting edge of global business.

This sort of visionary giving is what more schools need so that they can teach their students how to manage the world around them while also managing successful business. They need to be taught to give back.

A mother from Pickering, Ontario lashed out against parents who choose to delay or refuse vaccinations after her newborn baby was exposed to measles. Jennifer Hibben-White brought her son to the pediatrician’s office only to find out later on that the child may or may not have been exposed to measles because of a child in the waiting room who was later diagnosed with the illness.

Hibben-White posted on Facebook that she blames the person who chose not to vaccinate their child. While her child is too young to receive the vaccination everyone else in her family has been and she is concerned with the potential deadly outcome of measles.

Susan McGalla stated yesterday medical professionals are saying the refusing vaccinations puts children at risk. Hibben-White’s reaction may be fueled by anger as her five year old daughter died of an infection. Her grief showed on her Facebook post as she lashed out at the anti-vaccination movement and even displayed some sarcasm due to her situation, asking anti-vaccinators how their week was going.

There may be kids outside of their attendance area on the winning team of the Little League World Series. However, there is no reason for the losing coach to say that the winner should be stripped of its title.

The kids are not learning how to be good losers says Fersen Lambranho. They simply are not learning that the game is just a game. All the players in the NFL are over all the cheating scandals because it is still a game. They are going to go home to their families and get over it. These kids need to go home, go to practice and get over it. With the coach still talking to the media about something that happened almost a year ago, it is hard for these kids to learn to be good losers.

We wonder why we have so many athletes and coaches who cannot hold it together, and that is because these people were never taught to be good winners or losers. The coach needs to set a good example. The coach needs to go back to the media and say that it is not that big a deal. They need to let it go for the sake of the kids.

My coworker Dan Newlin shared an article about this new study reported last week by Campaign for Healthier Solutions called “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” has revealed that more than 81 percent of the non-cleaning products in dollar stores like 99 Cents, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar contained at least one of several toxic chemicals at levels that are incredibly dangerous to human health.

Lead was found in earrings and toys, PVC in interior decor and phthalates in a variety of household items. Those who conducted the study were surprised to learn that so many products did not meet quality control standards. Additionally, they were surprised to learn that many of these products were not created in other countries that have huge pollution and safety issues like China but in the United States.

Campaign for Healthier Solutions has already called upon the dollar stores to pull the items and use better quality control methods.

Of course, the study only revealed what most American consumers already know:

Cheap products are often cheaply made and quality control is not as good as with manufacturing of more expensive products. Some critics of the study have pointed out that consumers “buy what they pay for” and should not expect dollar store items to be safe.

On the other hand, supporters of Campaign for Healthier Solutions argue that all consumer products should be safe no matter the cost of manufacturing or sales price.

Antique Wine Company is a London-based business that sells fine wine to locals and travelers. Recently, the AWC earned a customer service accreditation. They company received it after a survey that involved over 150,000 people was conducted. Many of the individuals who were polled gave the AWC an outstanding service rating. This extensive project took place at the beginning of 2014. The goal was to gather the opinions of prospective customers and existing clients.

Antique Wine Company and many other companies age wine using a sophisticated process. By implementing advanced procedures, employees can easily determine the specific age of a bottle of wine.

Antique Wine Company sells many bottles of young wine. These wine in these bottles are typically a purple color. Young wine has a purple tint because purple reflects the color of the fruits that were used during the wine manufacturing process.

Stephen Williams is the CEO and Managing Director at the company. He is now one of the most knowledgeable wine experts in the world. Williams also designed many of the most efficient cellars that are found in various countries.

Stephen Williams is an established wine merchant. He shares his extensive knowledge that helped him gain popularity on the wine industry with other wine companies. The press always conducts interviews with Williams because his comments are valuable. In addition to interviews, Williams can be heard on a series in Monaco called Rivera Radio. He also has a yearly series that covers everything during the Bordeaux En Primeur process.

For more information about Stephen Williams, consider reviewing his lectures, which take place at AWC Wine Academy.

Dr. Daniel Amen is a board certified physician and psychiatrist who specializes in brain health and its effects on the rest of the body. He has also produced his own television show and written 9 New York Times bestselling books on the topic.

Daniel Amen believes that brain health is immediately related to the health of all the other organs in the human body. He has come up with seven simple guidelines that should promote optimal brain health in all people. Firstly, Daniel Amen urges people to drink plenty of water since the body is made up of mostly that. Contrarily, people should not eat a lot of calories because Daniel Amen believes that restricting foods leads to higher nerve function in the brain. To counter the lack of calories, individuals should take supplements such as fish oil, which supports brain function. Dietary antioxidants, which can be found in berries and avocados amongst others, are also beneficial because of their ability to eliminate harmful toxins in the body.

Dr. Amen’s plan also consists of guidelines of what food groups to consume and when to eat them. According to Dr. Amen everyone should aim to eat a healthy balance of lean protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. To make things more simple, Dr. Amen recommends set diet plans such as The Zone by Barry Sears and the South Beach Diet by cardiologist Arthur Agatston. He also recommends that people should pick 24 brain-healthy foods to eat throughout the week for optimal health. Another one of his seven tips is to snack frequently to avoid binging on any unhealthy foods later in the day.

His research on brain health and his dedication to helping people have healthier brains and prosperous lives has led Dr. Amen to found the Amen Clinics. These clinics are located in Newport Beach and San Francisco, California, Bellevue, Washington, Reston, Virginia, Atlanta and New York City. Here, physicians help patients put into effect all the tips on becoming brain healthy and therefore achieving overall health.

A recent study out of the University of Otago in New Zealand has found a novel approach to treating obesity and diabetes. It has been discovered that inflammation in the brain caused by a high fat diet contributes to both problems. A natural antioxidant called butein was administered to mice that were on a high fat diet. They saw no significant difference in how these mice handled glucose tolerance than another group that were on a low fat diet. Being able to lower blood sugar levels and reduce insulin resistance by lowering brain inflammation opens up a new approach to reducing the symptoms of diabetes sufferers. The study also found that reducing this inflammation decreased a high fat diets disruption in the body’s hormones that signal when we have eaten enough.

Given the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the United States and other developed nations, this research shows promise in helping millions of people. Many will also be relieved to know that the benefits can be achieved by natural means. There are certain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients, such as curcumin and grape seed extract to name just a couple, that have been highly regarded and recommended by nutritionists for decades. While they were not involved in this study, I’m sure that Lee G. Lovett will be interested to see other similar substances receive comparable testing to find out the limits of what nutritional science can do to handle some of our modern society’s most common health problems.

Many parents feel after years of caring for their children they need to refresh their minds and their bodies. Some start with their bodies and turn to plastic surgery to feel better. It’s always important to find a reputable surgeon.

He believes and lives the axiom that patients are individuals and he treats his with patience and courtesy.

A native of North Dakota, Dr. Rohrich’s educational and training endeavors led him to Texas, Michigan, England, and Massachusetts. However, he went back to Texas and settled in the Dallas area, and he works at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He and his wife, Dr. Diane Gibby, who is also a plastic surgeon, and their two children, now live in the Dallas area.

Because of Dr. Rohrich’s professionalism in plastic surgery, others in the profession listen when he talks how, both physically and psychologically, he responds to his patients needs. Both approaches have their time and place.

Dr. Rohrich believes that reconstructive surgery restores the natural, and cosmetic surgery restores to the more natural. Restoring to the more natural is where psychology begins because it’s best to personally know the patient. This means putting the physician complex on the back burner and understanding and concern on the front burner.

At the UT Southwestern Medical Center he teaches classes about how to treat patients with empathy. In addition to the psychology of handling patients, he also works with research teams to improve the efficiency of plastic surgery to make surgical procedures safer.

His years of experience and success in reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery provide him with the experience to write theses about the two fields. Throughout the world he’s chaired many conferences, and he’s given hundreds of presentations about the overall possibilities of plastic surgery. He uses his expertise to support associations that direct, promote, encourage, and teach the public about what plastic surgery can do for them.